Twas morning now. The rays of sun beamed over my face, and forced me to become awake. I arose from the rock like bed, and observed my surroundings through squinted eyes. I was once again the only child who lay in bed. I assumed that the others were in the feeding hall, ignoring their porridge once again. As I walked into the room, I heard no mummers of children as usual... instead; the room was silent, and the children had no porridge on their table.
I slowly made my way into the depths of the silent room. I then sat next to Cècil once again, and wondered at this interesting situation. "What is going on?" I asked in confusion. "They said something happened last night... I'm not sure what... but I think I know..." I began to worry that both Cècil and the owners of this hell knew of my ventures into the buildings inner parts.
"Well... what could it have-" Cècil slapped me right across my face, and then looked at me with teary eyes. "Don't act stupid Edmond... I know what you did last night... I saw you... and when I awoke this morning, I noticed my papers resting atop my drawer." I looked at Cècil, with my hand placed upon the area of impact. She looked at me in the eye. "Why Edmond... Why did you do that..?"
I looked at myself. I really had no reason to investigate, but... it was a rather strong urge, and I let it overcome reason...
"I... I don't know-" just as my words left my mouth, the annoyance of a woman entered the room with an expression I had never seen before. She looked mad, but it was uncertain. "Children!" she began to speak in a very annoying tone of voice. "There has been an intruder in the most forbidden of areas! We have decided the punishments we will be handing out to each of you. If the intruder is not to show himself within a number of seconds, we will whip each child where they stand until the soul thief reveals himself. However, if the child continues to hide his identity, the whippings will continue each passing day. You each will not receive a whipping for this day, or porridge. Carry on."
The woman left the room and each child looked at one another. I looked at Cècil, who had more tears in her eyes now that the news arrived. "Cècil... I-" Cècil stood up. She was starting to breath heavy. She then rushed towards me, and threw me toward the ground. I fell back, creating a large thud, drawing the other children's attention. "Damn you Edmond!" her hazel eyes were now filled with tears that fell across her red cheeks, as she hiccupped while speaking.
"You've... You've..." she paused, then ran into the other room. "Cècil!" I called after her, but she continued to ignore my words. I paused and looked at the room. Every child's eyes now lay upon me. They ranged from menacing glares of pain and hunger, to the sad sight of a child in confusion and sorrow.
I then followed Cècil into the other room, where she sat on the windowsill that faced the streets of town. I quietly walked up to her, but she knew of my approach. "Be gone with thee," she said, once again in her lifeless tone. "Cècil... I'm... I don't know what to say anymore..."
Cècil stared continually into the streets, ignoring my words. "Cècil... Come now... I had no thoughts of the events I partook would have this much of a consequence on me and everyone else for that matter..." she looked back at me.
"No one did Edmond... why do you care so much about me anyway?" she stared at me from behind her shoulder. "I-" I caught my words before they left my mouth. I didn't know why I cared for her so much... I just hated seeing her saddened in particular... but I assumed there were other reasons, yet I could not find more right then and there...
as she looked at me from behind her shoulder, she gave a smile. "I never liked life..." she said. "Now... it's hopeless..." I came to her side, and sat next to her on the windowsill. "Like I said... there has to be more than what is at first glance..." the smile she gave had vanished, and now remained a straight, saddened face. "I loved my parents... such a shame they left me here..." this topic I became interested in.
"What happened to them?" her head sank down. "I'm sorry for rushing such a sensitive question-" she shook her head. "No... it's fine... they passed from illness... me and my younger brother survived, but he passed not too long ago from the same illness my father and mother came down with..."
I didn't talk for quite some time after she mentioned that. She stared off into the crowds of people walking down the streets, browsing at the selections of stores, and never in my life had I ever cared so much for someone... she... she was more to me than anything... I didn't want her to die...
"Life's a strange game... isn't it Edmond?" she broke the silence with her voice, as well as breaking my trance. "Pardon?" I said in return trying not to look stupid. "Life Edmond... what do you make of it?" I shrugged at her question. "I'm not sure Cècil... it's a painful process, but... that's hard to answer..."
she sighed. "I'm done Edmond... it's no use..." she reached into her pocket, and pulled a small piece of iron. I stared in horror as she positioned it over her forearm. "No!" I said grasping the hand which held the small piece of iron. I peered out the window to notice people in the background looking at the commotion we caused. "Edmond! Let go of thy arm!" I looked at Cècil crying. "I won't... I don't want you to die... I hate seeing you saddened all of these days... you won't eat, sleep, or care... but I do, and I won't stop either..."
she looked at me with her mouth half way open. She looked as if she didn't know what to say. I then started to cry. "Please..." I said through my tears. "Don't..."
she dropped the rusted, yet sharpened piece of metal and quickly hugged me. She started to cry, hugging me tighter. Her breath hiccupped, and she began to sob harder. I too was crying, and hugged her not as tightly. She felt like a sister to me. Cècil was one of the closest people I knew. She was cold on the outside, but I found her. The real her...
She felt as if she didn't want to live, but there was so much ahead of her that the reward was worth the risks of life and is perils. Suddenly, she stopped hugging me and looked at me with her flustered rosy cheeks and watery eyes. She looked out the window. The people came in fewer numbers as the day passed through, each party seemed to thin as the sun sank down.
"Why..?" Cècil asked through the hiccups. I choked to answer. I cared for her so much, and yet life contained so little time...
"Cècil... I-" I stopped in the midst of my sentence and turned to the dining hall, where the woman shouted.
"Edmond, I want to leave!" Cècil pleaded. The woman we dreaded still resided in the dining hall, and we could hear her. "I do too Cècil, but how?" she grabbed my arm. "We'll find a way Edmond! I know we will." We both turned to the voice of the annoying woman calling for us. "We must hide if we are to escape." I grabbed Cècil's hand and rushed towards a bed to hide under. "No Edmond. I know where to hide." She pulled me to the wall, and tried to pull back a piece of wood large enough for us. I ran and grabbed the sheets from both mine and Cècil's bed, a pillow, and my money. Cècil finished pulling, and we both rushed in to what I thought was a compact space. Instead, it was a dusty, yet somewhat large room.
I placed the plank of wood back to cover our tracks for safe measure. Cècil started to cough from the dust, and it worried me. "Here," I said handing her a sheet to cover her mouth. "Wrap this over your mouth, it will help." We both tied the sheet over our mouths and crouched to maneuver.
"Edmond?! Cècil?! Where are you damn it?" shouted the woman from the opposite side. We both stopped in our tracks, and became silent for fear of her discovering our secret pathway. We slowly crawled our way to freedom in the space, grasping for a taste of pure sunlight and hope. Then, Cècil hit her head, creating a thud in the process of her action. My heart dropped at this sound. I grabbed Cècil's hand a pulled faster. "Damn it all," I cared not of how quiet we were at this point, our location had been given and that dastardly woman would hunt us down. "ANDRE!" cried the annoyance. I had never known the name of the gargantuan that was a man, but I wished not to know the name of my captor, or my executioner at this point. "Pull back these boards!" she cried once again. The brute obeyed and began to pull and rip apart the wall. As he pulled back the boards, the light that bled through now seemed to flood the somewhat large room. I felt my heart beat faster and faster as we became further away from both annoyance and brute, but sank as he tore apart each board.
Cècil and I ran faster and faster until we came to an end in the room. I turned around to see the brute named Andre, and stared into his eyes. They appeared soulless, for one eye was pure white. I stared in horror as he then, fit himself inside the room and began to approach us. His mind was set, and we would surely not escape.
I realized how futile our efforts became, and wished to be dead. "Edmond!" Cècil shouted. "Come! Grab my hand!" it appeared Cècil had found more to the labyrinth that was hidden inside this hell. I grabbed her hand and pulled myself up. The space became tighter, and more of a crevice. I heard the brute's pounding at the wood, and his groan from rushing towards us. We came to a crawl as we tried to maneuver inside the crevice. I became more fearful now that he had the upper hand in speed and mobility.
As I stumbled, I clearly heard the brute's pounding came so close to us, to the point I thought he was under us. And I was right, for as I peered down into the cracks of the wood, I saw him stare at me. I panicked at this sight. "Cècil!! Hurry!" I shouted to her. She didn't seem to move any faster, but I understood her effort. The brute then pounded on the wood below our feet, shaking my entire body and my heart.
"Edmond..." Cècil called toward me. "Are we going to die..?" her eyes began to fill with water. "I..." I felt my throat lose all its moisture. "I don't know..." she hurried though as best as she could, knowing the worst of this situation. The pounding of the brute became harder and louder, until the wood began to crack and splinter. My heart shook with each beating he gave. He then broke through the wood, and began to reach for anything that resembled a leg. I lifted my leg to avoid his grasp, but I was too slow.
With the force of a god, he clasped his two hands around my ankle, and pulled down towards him. His arm was bleeding, but he gave no thought to it or the pain. I became hysteric and vigorously shook my leg to attempt to remove his gargantuous hands, but it proved useless. I noticed many stray nails lodged within the boards and quickly pulled many. With all my force I drove the rusted nails within his hands and hoped they pierced skin. The giant screamed in pain, yet he did not let go of my ankle. He pulled harder, and my window of opportunity shrunk in size with each passing second. I yanked a board away from the wall, and started to beat the giant's hands. He began to scream louder, and his hand was to prove, for it looked as if it had been shattered and broken in every way. His warm blood began to drip on me, and I felt terrible. I was, out of pure adrenaline and senselessness, beating a man's hand to pulp. I had no other reason to justify the action other than defense. But I felt it was not a worthy excuse, or action. The brute's hand, after multiple beatings with a plank of wood, finally collapsed and released my ankle. I scurried away from the hole the giant created and rushed toward Cècil and looked around. Cècil started to pull boards out of the wall facing ahead of us. "What are you doing? We have little time to spare." The moaning of Andre turned to shouts of pain and anger towards us. "Edmond. Trust me." I aided her in puling boards, and let her rest. As I pulled back the boards, I was able to peer inside our next destination. I appeared to be someone's house. Now, I wasn't one for burglary, or breaking into another man's house, but I have exceptions.
"Where do we go?" Cècil asked whilst breathing heavily from the adrenaline. "I only know one place... but I don't know-" she shook her head. "Edmond, as long as we're safe, I'm fine with it." I looked off in the distance and thought... I only knew of one place we could be able to live in, but I wasn't sure...
I grabbed Cècil's arm and rushed through to the front door. "I know where," I said as we both passed through the door. The orange sun filled the streets that evening, and gave a beautiful hue to anything basking in its warmth.
The crowds of people that passed the streets seemed larger in number for it was a fine evening. We walked at a mild pace; knowing that we were somewhat safe from past terrors that haunted us. I looked at all the familiar shops I had passed before. Walking with mother to fetch items of kitchen purposes or living pieces for the common area, these memories made me dearly miss them.
As we walked through the hordes of pedestrians it became clearer to me that something was wrong. I could feel it deep inside me, churning my stomach to an unbearable point, in which I turned to observe my surroundings just to ease my worries. It was then; I caught a glimpse of pure terror itself. Her black hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a long black dress with reading glasses. Her eyes had bags, and she looked like hell. Twas the annoyance that is a woman, and she was out for both our heads.
"RUN!" I shouted to Cècil. I looked back and realized I had made an enormous mistake by giving away our location to the woman who wanted to kill us. We both ran as fast as we could. We dodged people and shoved to escape her sight. I looked in the distance and saw the hope I needed, but it slowly faded. There, was the manor I so dearly missed. Only, it looked to be in shambles.
I made a sharp right along with Cècil, and headed for the manor. I passed the docks where father spent portions of the day with his crew. I didn't want to think about mother or father... they became my sole reminder that I was alone in this world...
my throat became cold, and my lungs felt as if they wanted to pop. But Cècil kept me going. "Hurry Edmond!" she shouted to encourage me. It helped, but not enough. I turned to see the annoying woman near me, breathing heavily like me. She sprinted faster than me, but I remained confident.
We finally reached the manors front steps, and raced up to reach the door. As I tried to quickly turn the knob of the door, it stopped in mid rotation. "Damn!" I shouted as we both looked at our oncoming demise. I then realized that the windows were open, and took advantage of the opportunity. "Cècil, the window!" I shouted. She looked to her side, and noticed it. She then ran and jumped through the window without hesitation. I climbed through the window and looked behind me. The woman was nearing the manor at a fast pace. I quickly closed the window and locked it to prevent her from entering as well. I watched as the woman came to the door and began to slam the door with her fist. "You open this door!!" she began shouting. She persisted her actions for a mere five minutes, then simply walked away realizing she had no chance of recapturing us. Me and Cècil sat against the commons area wall and caught our breath. We looked at each other and laughed. We danced with death, and led. With the adrenaline gone, my body became tired, and needed a rest. I slumped over while still against the wall and felt my eyelids start to fall.
"Edmond... where are we?" asked Cècil. I stood up and went to the center of the commons area. "This... this was my home..." I tried to find the miniscule details that made this place vibrant and lovely, but it all faded. The paintings were torn, and discolored; the walls were stained with different colors, and on the floor had the stain of blood where I laid with father... "Edmond... it's so beautiful..." I gave a sad laugh. "It was... it does not feel like home anymore... it's just...it is nothing more than a structure with a roof..." I said in a depressed tone. "Edmond... have I ever described my parents to you?" I looked at Cècil. "Only when we sat at the windowsill, but you told me nothing of them." She signaled me to come and sit with her. "They were amazing... my mother made me dresses, hats, and I wanted to be a seamstress, and create lovely works of art with cloth and other pieces of clothing," she gave a sigh, and her eyes started to water. She used the sheet I gave her and wiped her eyes. "I remember she made me a dress that took her seven years to complete. She said she wanted to give this to me when I was this age. Eight. She never did though... She died before she told me where it was..." she pulled the sheet over her eyes and began to cry somewhat. I put my hand on her shoulder. "I witnessed my mothers' death... she was shot by a drunken crewmember of my father ship... she had my sister Cècil in her arms when she was shot. He killed them both, then shot my leg..." she removed the sheet from her face and gave a smile. I turned and did the same. I realized something that evening... I wasn't alone in this world... I was far from alone...
VOCÊ ESTÁ LENDO
Edmond Paul
Aventurahere lies the journey of a young man, where the innocence dies young, and the worlds unforeseen wrath is unfolded. see love, despare, decline of sanity, and the rest of the worlds horrid affairs happen before your very eyes.
